1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to information technology, and more particularly, to a disk-cloning method and system for cloning computer data from a source disk to a target disk, which can be utilized, for example, in the computer assembly line to clone a preselected set of software programs to the main hard disk of each computer unit, or as a backup utility to data storage means.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal computers, such as Wintel-based PCs, are typically bundled with preinstalled operating system and application programs, such as Microsoft Windows 98 and Office 97, for the purpose of promoting sales. Normally, Windows 98 and Office 97 can be installed onto a PC""s hard disk using their included setup programs. In the PC factory, however, using the setup program to preinstall Windows 98 and Office 97 onto each PC unit would be extremely laborious and time-consuming to carry out, because the total time required to complete the installation of Windows 98 would be typically from 30 to 60 minutes.
One solution to the foregoing problem is to install Windows 98 and Office 97 (hereinafter referred to as source data) onto a hard disk (hereinafter referred to as source disk), then compress the installed files on the source disk as an image file, and then clone the compressed file through decompression onto to the hard disk of each PC unit (hereinafter referred to as target disk). This disk-cloning method allows Windows 98 and Office 97 to be more quickly installed to each PC unit than using setup programs. In addition, in the event that Windows 98 and Office 97 on a hard disk is damaged, the image file can serve as a backup for recovery of the original Windows 98 and Office 97 files to the hard disk.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the module configuration for a conventional disk-cloning method and system. As shown, the disk-cloning method and system is used to clone a set of software programs, such as Windows 98 and Office 97, from a source disk 10 to a target disk 20. In the first step, the disk-cloning method and system utilizes a source-disk read module 11 to read all the files stored on the source disk 10 in a file-by-file manner (these files are denoted respectively by FILE_1, FILE_2, . . . , and FILE_N and are collectively designated by the reference numeral 12 in FIG. 1). These files FILE_1, FILE_2, . . . , and FIEL_N are then compressed by a compression module 13 into an image file 14. After this, a decompression module 21 is used to decompress the image file 14 to recover the primitive data form of the original files FILE_1, FILE_2, . . . , and FIEL_N read from the source disk 10. The decompressed data are then written by a target-disk read/write module 22 in a file-by-file manner onto the target disk 20.
Using the prior art of FIG. 1, the cloning of 1 GB (gigabyte) of source data from the source disk 10 to the target disk 20 would require about 10 minutes and 26 seconds to complete.
The foregoing disk-cloning method and system however, is considered complicated in process, poor in system security, and slow in efficiency. These drawbacks arise due to the fact that the source-disk read procedure needs to look up the entire FDT (File Directory Table) and FAT (File Allocation Table) on the source disk to read all the files from the source disk, which takes much time to complete. Moreover, during the target-disk write procedure, it is required to modify the FDT and FAT on the target disk, which also takes much time to complete. Moreover, in the case of the target disk being different in capacity from the source disk, the modifications to FAT and FDT would be even more time-consuming to complete, and the system security of the target disk can be affected.
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a new disk-cloning method and system, which allows a faster cloning speed than the prior art.
It is another objective of this invention to provide a new disk-cloning method and system, which requires no modifications to the FDT and FAT of the target disk so that the system security of the target disk can be ensured.
It is still another objective of this invention to provide a new disk-cloning method and system, which allows a fast cloning speed even in the case of the source and target disks being different in capacity.
In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of this invention, a new disk-cloning method and system is proposed. The invention is characterized in that the source data are cloned in a sector-by-sector manner rather than in a file-by-file manner as the prior art. This feature allows the cloning procedure to be more efficiently carried out than the prior art. Moreover, it allows the disk-cloning procedure to be performed without having to make modifications to the existing FDT and FAT on the target disk, thus ensuring the system security of the target disk.